Florida coastal communities could ban plastic shopping bags to preserve the environment and reduce litter under a proposed state law.

Municipalities with fewer than 100,000 residents could create a pilot program to regulate disposable bags under a bill filed ahead of the 2017 Florida legislative session. The program could last from January 2018 to June 2020, and only communities that border the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, lagoons and other water bodies could participate.

This is the third time Rep. David Richardson has filed the bill since the Legislature in 2008 prohibited local governments from enacting ordinances to regulate disposable plastic bags.

Richardson's hometown of Miami Beach wants to enact the pilot program, and 24 local governments across the state have passed resolutions supporting the end of the state's pre-emption. Those include Sewall's Point, Brevard County, Melbourne Beach, Indiatlantic, Satellite Beach, Bonita Springs and Leon County.

The House bill (HB93) and its Senate companion (SB162) would prohibit municipalities from imposing fees or taxes on bag use, and would require governments to collect data on the pilot program to generate a report for the Department of Environmental Protection.

Environmentalists consider plastic bags a hazard because they create litter and marine animals such as sea turtles mistake them for food. Plastic bags were the fourth most frequently found item during coastal cleanups worldwide, accounting for 8.1 percent of all items found, according to the 2007 International Coastal Cleanup Report by the Ocean Conservancy.

Richardson said the issue goes beyond that.

"These plastic bags get thrown out on the street ... they clog up our stormwater systems and result in slower drains," he said.

OPPOSITION

Richardson will be up against the Florida Retail Federation, which opposes the ban because it curtails the "ability of each retailer to respond to the demands of its customers," spokesman James Miller said. Having different regulations in each municipality also will create additional expenses for businesses and customers, and bag manufacturing creates jobs in Florida, he said.

"From an environmental standpoint, there is no perfect solution to this issue," Miller said via email. "However, plastic bags are 100 percent recyclable, and retailers have embraced their role in recycling these materials and many provide recycling receptacles at their retail locations."

HISTORY

Along with prohibiting local governments from banning plastic bags in 2008, the Legislature also directed the DEP to conduct a study, whose findings lawmakers were supposed to consider. The department finished the study in 2010 but lawmakers haven't revisited the issue.

Anywhere from 56 to 315 disposable plastic bags can be replaced by one reusable bag, according to analyses mentioned in the study. Yet it could be difficult for retail chains to participate in a pilot program because it would be in just a small area. An outright ban reduces consumption of plastic bags, litter and costs associated with clogged storm and sewer drains, but may promote a shift to other disposable alternatives; and some customers like the convenience of store-provided bags, according to the study.

California in 2014 became the first state to ban single-use plastic bags at large retail stores and voters approved upholding the ban in a November referendum. The state also requires a 10-cent minimum charge for recycled paper bags, reusable plastic bags and biodegradable bags at certain locations.

Hawaii has a de facto statewide ban, as all of its most populous counties prohibit non-biodegradable plastic bags, as well as paper bags containing less than 40 percent recycled material, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The District of Columbia banned non-recyclable plastic bags and set a fee of five cents for distribution of all other disposable bags in 2009.

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